The Ethiopian Journal of Business and Social Sciences (EJBSS) aims to publish peer-reviewed articles biannually in various fields, including business and economics, social sciences and humanities, behavioral and pedagogical science, and law. Starting in 2018, EJBSS accepts peer-reviewed original scientific articles, which are typically reports of empirical studies, literature reviews, theoretical articles, methodological articles, or case studies. Other, less frequently published types of articles include brief reports, comments and replies on previously published articles, book reviews, and monographs. EJBSS disseminates its publications to the scientific community in Ethiopia and around the world. Each volume of this journal will contain two issues, with a minimum of five papers in each. Every issue will be a running issue, meaning that all officially accepted manuscripts will be immediately published online. This state-of-the-art concept provides authors with the benefit of 'Zero Waiting Time' for their manuscripts to be published.

Publication Criteria                                                            

1. The study being submitted has not been previously published, either in part or in its entirety, nor is it under consideration for publication elsewhere, except as an abstract, part of a published lecture, or academic thesis. We will consider work that has been presented at conferences, but significant changes must be made before submission to the journal, and proper citation of the conference paper is required. By submitting a manuscript, authors are granting a license to publish the article and identify themselves as the original publisher. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors approve of the article's publication, and any author-dispute related issues after publication will not be entertained. It is also the corresponding author's responsibility to ensure that articles from a particular institution are submitted with the necessary approval.
2. Publication of the submitted work is permitted by all authors, and once accepted for publication, it will not be submitted elsewhere, in English or any other language, without written approval from the copyright holder. The journal may consider manuscripts that are translations of articles originally published in another language, but consent from the original journal must be obtained, and it must be clearly stated in the abstract that the article has been previously published.
3. The copyrights of all papers published in this journal are retained by the respective authors according to the journal's guidelines. Authors should be the sole authors of the article and have full authority to enter into the agreement and grant rights without breaching any other obligations. Authors must ensure the integrity of the paper and related works and confirm that submitting the manuscript to this journal does not violate any contracts, confidentiality agreements, or commitments to secrecy.
4. If a submitted study replicates or closely resembles previous work, authors must provide a sound scientific rationale for the submitted work and reference and discuss existing literature. Submissions that replicate or derive from existing work may be rejected if authors fail to provide adequate justification.
5. Language quality should be of English or Amharic medium quality: The language used in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Authors are responsible for improving the English or Amharic quality, if necessary, through third-party services.
6. The research must adhere to all applicable standards for the ethics of experimentation and research integrity.

Agreement for Authorship and Correspondence

Submission of a paper to this journal indicates that the author(s) have agreed on the content of the paper. One author should be indicated as the corresponding author for all publication-related communications. The corresponding author, who will be treated as the final representative voice for all authors regarding any decision related to the manuscript unless otherwise requested during submission, takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal and editorial office during the submission process, throughout peer review, and during publication. The corresponding author is also responsible for ensuring that the submission adheres to all journal requirements, including but not limited to details of authorship, study ethics and ethics approval, clinical trial registration documents, and conflict of interest declaration. The corresponding author should also be available post-publication to respond to any queries or critiques.

This journal will not be responsible for any disputes related to authorship of a submitted paper. Any changes in authorship, such as the addition or deletion of author(s) or a change in the sequence of the author list, should be communicated to the editorial office through a letter signed by all authors before the publication of the paper. Generally, any changes in authorship after final publication will not be entertained to avoid any disputes.

Peer Review Process

High-quality manuscripts are peer-reviewed by a minimum of two peers in the related field, with at least one from the home university and one from an external university. The EJBSS follows a single/double-blind review policy to ensure neutral evaluation. During this review process, the identity of both the authors and reviewers is kept hidden to ensure unbiased evaluation, meaning that authors and reviewers remain anonymous. The review period will take from eight to 12 weeks, although this can vary depending on reviewer availability. Reviewers are asked to provide formative feedback, even if an article is not deemed suitable for publication in the journal. Overall editorial responsibility rests with the journal’s editors-in-chief.

This transparent process helps to eradicate any possible malicious interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc.) during peer review.

Submissions to the journal will go through the following review process:

1. Upon arrival of a manuscript, the editors make a general assessment of its quality and fit with the scope of the journal.
2. If approved, the manuscript is passed on to one or more advisory editors for recommendations and suggestions of expert referees. Typically, each manuscript will be reviewed by two referees, sometimes including the advisory editor.
3. The referees follow the guidelines provided in the Journal Settings (amu.edu.et).
4. Based on the reviews, the editors decide on one of the following assessments:
5. Acceptance
6. Acceptance pending minor revisions
7. Advise major revision and resubmit
8. Rejection

Authors will be duly informed about the editors’ decision. In case of b and c, the editors will provide the author with revision suggestions. In case c, the review process will begin again at point 2 after resubmission.

Once accepted, the managing editor will prepare a definitive version in cooperation with a native English-language copy editor.

Authors are expected to deliver submissions in idiomatic English and to follow the details of Times New Roman style sheet. If this is not fully the case, authors will be asked to revise the language and/or style before the article is submitted for copy-editing.

Additionally, we believe that one of the main objectives of the peer review system is to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript. Normally, we try to publish the average marks (out of 112) a manuscript received at the initial peer review stage and at the final publication stage to record its history of improvement during peer review. This process further increases transparency. It is more important to honestly record the strengths and weaknesses of a manuscript than to claim that our peer review system is perfect. Therefore, these transparent processes, such as the publication of review history files and scores of a particular manuscript, give readers a clear idea of the strengths and weaknesses of a published paper, enhancing the chances of proper use of the research results and reducing the chances of misuse of the findings.

We strongly discourage any attempt by authors to contact the reviewer directly to influence the review process. We also strongly discourage any attempt by reviewers to contact authors directly. General guidelines for the peer-review process are available at https://survey.amu.edu.et/ojs/index.php/EJBSS/management/settings/context

Members of the editorial team/board are permitted to submit their own papers to the journal. In cases where an author is associated with the journal, they will be removed from all editorial tasks for that paper, and another member of the team will be assigned responsibility for overseeing peer review. Any competing interest must also be declared within the submission and any resulting publication.

Reviewer selection

Reviewer selection is a critical parameter in maintaining the high peer review standard of any journal. Many factors are considered during the selection of peer reviewers, such as proof of expertise demonstrated through published papers in reputable journals, affiliations, reputation, specific suggestions, and more. We aim to avoid selecting reviewers who are slow, careless, or fail to provide sufficient justification for their decisions, whether positive or negative. Authors also have the option to identify peers they do not wish to review their paper. Whenever possible, the editorial team honors authors' requests to exclude reviewers they believe are unsuitable. Additionally, we make an effort to eliminate reviewers who may have an obvious competing interest.

Review process flow

The reviewers' comments are typically sent to authors within 3 weeks after submission. Based on the reviewers' comments, a final decision (accepted, accepted with minor revisions, accepted with major revisions, or rejected) will be communicated to the corresponding author. Reviewers may be asked if they are willing to review a revised version of the manuscript. The editorial office may request a re-review regardless of the reviewer's response to ensure a thorough and fair evaluation. Reviewers who may have provided an opinion contrary to the final decision should not feel that their recommendation was not duly considered and their service not properly appreciated. Experts often disagree, and it is the responsibility of the editorial team to make a final decision.

Authors are encouraged to submit the revised manuscript within 7-15 days of receiving the reviewer's comments (for minor corrections). However, in any case, the revised manuscript submission should not exceed 8 weeks (only for cases of major revision involving additional experiments, analysis, etc.) to uphold the journal's mission of fast publication. Along with the corrected manuscript, authors need to submit a completed 'review comment form' and any rebuttal to points raised by reviewers. The Editor of the journal will have the exclusive authority to make the final decision on the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript during the peer review process.

One of the main policies of this journal is the 'rapid dissemination of scientific findings' by publishing suitable manuscripts within 8 weeks after submission (with some exceptions). In special circumstances where the review process takes longer, authors will be notified accordingly. The editorial board or referees may re-review manuscripts that are accepted pending revision. Manuscripts with the latest and most significant findings will be given the highest priority to be published within a short time frame. The journal is committed to promoting integrity in research publication. In cases of suspected misconduct, the journal management reserves the right to re-review any manuscript at any stage before final publication.

Conflicts of interest

A conflict of interest is anything that could potentially interfere with, or be perceived as interfering with, the full and objective peer review, decision-making, or publication of articles submitted to EJBSS. Personal, financial, and professional affiliations or relationships can be seen as conflicts of interest. Failing to disclose competing interests may lead to the rejection of a manuscript. Any potential conflict of interest should be disclosed in the statements section during submission. A conflict of interest statement will be automatically generated and included in the PDF file for peer review and in the final published version of the article.